Fire damage purchase experience

[Reggie Powell]

Good afternoon all,

I’ve been looking for deals in my local market, as I’m sure all of you are. I keep seeing houses with significant fire damage selling at very low prices. It seems like the bulk of “deals” right now are these houses with fire damage. Does anyone have experience with purchasing houses that have had significant interior fire damage? I’m talking about multiple rooms or even half of the house burned to the studs. Is it just a regular rebuild or do I need to work with the city/county to repermit everything? What are the extra costs involved with fire damage rebuilds?

Thanks for reading,

Reggie

[Lynnette E.]

I rebuilt my mom's house after it was destroyed by a gas explosion and fire.  It was in San Bernardino County, CA.  We left the foundation and one wall so it was a rebuild instead of new construction which makes permitting cheaper.  

Only thing unexpected was before issuing the permits we needed a sign off for  a septic system inspection showing it was not fire damaged and the fire department had someone who signed off that the foundation was not impacted from the fire.

We had to redo the water line to the house.

We also had to have inspections and testing of various burnt materials for asbestos.    If your house has asbestos in the roofing, flooring, tile, grout, fireplace, insulation, etc.  it can be expensive to remove what is considered hazardous material.  Look for that before you buy.